I remember us playing Barcelona in the quarter finals in 2010. After 20 minutes a wag behind me in the crowd shouted out “Can we have our ball back?”.

We had barely touched it and Barca seemed to create and miss chances at will. It was astounding that it was still 0-0, and more so that it stayed that way throughout the first half. It was like watching a masterclass. How we got out of that with a draw having subsequently gone 0-2 down remains a mystery.

We've faced Olympiakos ten times, with the teams winning five times each. They knocked us out last year obviously, but apart from that we had them in our Champions League group in 09/10, 11/12, 12/13 and 15/16. Must be one of the non-English teams we've played the most?

Been on the same pitch you mean. Played is overstating it on occasions.

Derby vs Forest in a league match in the Championship. I have to assume a couple decades ago it would have been a 'must see' game. No?

Arsenal's most common European opponents
12 Bayern Munich
10 Olympiakos (soon to be 12)
9 Barcelona
8 Ajax
8 Dortmund
8 Milan
8 Panathinaikos

Still is an interesting game for the neutral tbh. That the fixture has any resonance really is down to one man, by and large. The incredible Brian Clough.

You can Analyse it but you would have taken that draw in a heartbeat

Must fancy our chances

Twelve times apparently, winning three and losing seven. Barcelona nine times, losing six and winning once.

Morning socrates. My guess is the days of top players staying at one club for the whole of their careers, like Adams at Arsenal or Terry at Chelsea, is pretty well over. The selfish way of looking at it is if we overplay Saka now, the chances are we’ll be compromising his injury record at another club, whoever it is he ends up going to.

Maybe I’m looking at it too much from a moral standpoint but I think that would be wrong. In my opinion Saka should be rested. Not in the Europa League which I see as Arsenal’s big priority this season now. But certainly in some Premier League games. Why can’t he rested (you call it dropped) for a league we’re not going to win or even get into the top four? Okay, we have a chance of getting a position for Europa League qualification but I would hope we could pick and choose the right Premier League games to rest him for to avoid severely compromising our chances of getting one of those places.

Kane may yet prove you wrong.

I completely agree regarding Saka. Apart from protecting Saka, we need players like Pépé and Willian to be getting decent minutes in that position in case Saka gets injured.

When I first started watching Arsenal we seemed to draw Valencia every season.

In my youth European football consisted of the annual match against Racing Club de Paris. Read all about it in this fine article.

https://blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/7957

In my youth European football consisted of the annual match against Racing Club de Paris. Read all about it in this fine article.

https://blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/7957

...What is your (or others) guess of when Arsenal became the biggest club in London? In the 30s for sure. But approximately when did we become the biggest and who did we usurp from that perch?...

In all the years since 1893/4 Arsenal have been London's biggest club - we never needed to usurp any other club.

October 1886...or more seriously in 1893/4 when we became the first southern and London team to join the Football League. The next southern team to join was Luton in 1898/9; and then not until 1905/6 did London get members with Chelsea and Leyton Orient. In 1907/8 Fulham joined, and a year later Spurs. West Ham joined in 1919/20. In 1920/1 the League added a third division and that is when more London clubs joined - Palace, QPR, Millwall and Brentford. In 1921/2 the third division was divided into north and south, and Charlton joined.

In all the years since 1893/4 Arsenal have been London's biggest club - we never needed to usurp any other club. From time to time others have been more successful, and while Spurs may be our biggest rivals, they have won comparatively few trophies. Historiccally speaking Chelsea are getting closer to eclipsing us in that regard - possibly by the 2030s.

October 1886...or more seriously in 1893/4 when we became the first southern and London team to join the Football League. The next southern team to join was Luton in 1898/9; and then not until 1905/6 did London get members with Chelsea and Leyton Orient. In 1907/8 Fulham joined, and a year later Spurs. West Ham joined in 1919/20. In 1920/1 the League added a third division and that is when more London clubs joined - Palace, QPR, Millwall and Brentford. In 1921/2 the third division was divided into north and south, and Charlton joined.

In all the years since 1893/4 Arsenal have been London's biggest club - we never needed to usurp any other club. From time to time others have been more successful, and while Spurs may be our biggest rivals, they have won comparatively few trophies. Historiccally speaking Chelsea are getting closer to eclipsing us in that regard - possibly by the 2030s.

Although we did fiddle our way into the top division at others expense.

Can someone he hasn’t blocked tell him, again, that Arsenal have been relegated. A long time ago, in 1913. But it did happen.

I choose to ignore that. We have never been relegated. That's the story I'm sticking with.

Lee Mason once again showing his utter incompetence as a referee. Watch the West Brom v Brighton game later if you haven’t seen what happened.
He disallows a goal, then gives it, then disallows it again.....and no one is still any the wiser why

Lee Mason once again showing his utter incompetence as a referee. Watch the West Brom v Brighton game later if you haven’t seen what happened.
He disallows a goal, then gives it, then disallows it again.....and no one is still any the wiser why

Never thought I'd see a ref use several minutes of VAR checks to determine whether a free kick was taken before or after he blew the whistle. If that's what he was checking - it certainly wasn't clear what the reason was, and didn't seem clear to Mason either.

A farce made in heaven, by Mason. How he didn't see or aware that the WBA GK was still lining up his defense prior to the free kick is anyone's guess. The GK was reclining against the post, cool as you like, as though casually smoking a cig outside a bar. Whistle blown, kick taken, GK suddenly wakes up, leaps across goal, too late to stop ball. Mason decides to blow whistle a second time as ball crosses to the net. Absolute confusion follows.
Goal stands, doesn't stand. Obviously Mason wasn't aware that the GK wasn't ready before blowing whistle for the free kick. Realised it too late after the kick taken, blew whistle second time. Ball already was over the line before second whistle blown it looked like. Needed VAR to sort it. So no goal.